Divide stories: Bike evolution

[GregMay]

If you've not been enjoying these, Mike is writing some very interesting pieces from the early GDMBR/TDR days.

This one, has some gems of information buried in it for anyone thinking of a trip:

http://lacemine29.blogspot.co.uk/2017/1 ... ution.html

[Trail-rat]

thanks for sharing Greg

made a good nights reading .

[Alpinum]

But Greg, the magazine says it's the toughest MTB race in the world!

...

Cheers for that. Was hoping to read some more, more about the TD evolution, but quite understand Mike didn't go into it deeper as he 'wasn't there' that much after all. Often he writes as he used to ride. Just doesn't stop.

He's a MTBiker at heart. I seem to share more with him than I thought.

[Pirahna]

I was wondering if I should get into an argument with him on bikepacking.net, looks like it would be a fairly easy thing to do.

[jameso]

Good read ... find myself agreeing with his comment on rack packs. Bought one of those vaude trailgator type packs recently for that reason but it's not that great.

[Alpinum]

I was wondering if I should get into an argument with him on bikepacking.net, looks like it would be a fairly easy thing to do.

And on mtbr

[sean_iow]

Interesting reading that thanks. What struck me most was how little gear seemed to be on the bikes. I'm sure I had more with me on the BB200 than he's got in some of those pictures

His point about rear bag and the hassle/time required to opening them rings true. I now have a waist pack which just has my waterproofs in as when they were in my seat bag I would hold off putting them on due to the trouble of getting them out of the rear seat bag, especially if it is muddy as the pack and buckles would be plastered and I'd get filthy opening it. Don't think I'll be getting a rack to solve that issue just yet though... I'm not that old.... not quite anyway

[Bearbonesnorm]

His point about rear bag and the hassle/time required to opening them rings true.

Surely you're packing items in the wrong location if this is true?

[sean_iow]

His point about rear bag and the hassle/time required to opening them rings true.

Surely you're packing items in the wrong location if this is true?

Perhaps, but when I take stuff out of my front bag it can effect how secure it is in the harness. I tend to have all of my sleeping kit/shelter in the front and leave that untouched during the day. I'm going to have a re-think about all of my luggage, the current arrangement has sort of evolved over the last 3 years so some bit's I'd do differently now. I'm planning on re-making all of it over the winter with lighter materials and incorporating all I've learnt to it to prepare for a big ride I've got coming up next May but that's a subject for another thread....

[RIP]

It's fun to hone your packing skills/locations; as you say, hours of free long-nights entertainment there Sean! Certainly agree with untouched night-gear up-front. I don't carry enough for a frame bag so that's not a consideration for me. But is "undoing/redoing" the seatpack that big a deal? (*) It's a bit like saying I need water accessible while I'm moving - true if you're racing (whatever that is ), but it's a good excuse for a scenic or chat stop for me. Same for extraction of waterproofs, maybe get a sweetie out at the same time, or have a moan about Great British Weather etc. If weather looks on/off iffy I normally park it under the top strap of the seatpack TBH.

(*) EDIT: OK it is if you regularly leave the top strap undone afterwards, and end up with it wrapped round your back wheel. Who me?

[ScotRoutes]

Same for extraction of waterproofs, maybe get a sweetie out at the same time, or have a moan about Great British Weather etc. If weather looks on/off iffy I normally park it under the top strap of the seatpack TBH.

Some seatpacks - and bar bags - have elastics and/or floating panels for exactly this purpose. Who would want to pack wet waterproofs inside a bag where they can't dry off and make everything else wet?

[sean_iow]

Some seatpacks - and bar bags - have elastics and/or floating panels for exactly this purpose. Who would want to pack wet waterproofs inside a bag where they can't dry off and make everything else wet?

I've got an elastic cord in an 'x' on my front accessory bag for this. Having read several volumes of the Cordillera I wouldn't chance having anything on the back like this. It's full of tales of people who've lost their jacket/SPOT tracker/food/hats/gloves etc. as they were under an elastic strap on the back and they didn't notice them fall off. Or perhaps they are just unlucky. They are often the same people who seem to leave stuff behind after a stop, usually just before a massive climb so they have to go back down to get it when the realise and then back up

[GregMay]

Good to see this created some discussion.

Main point - it's not a MTB race. Mostly true, there are some of the new sections since Mikes time that are, but these are <1% of the route.

As for kit, I agree, most people do take too much, and don't think well about where to put it either.

[jameso]

Main point - it's not a MTB race.

It's not, or it could be, there was a thread on BP.net where the same point was made by MC in response to a magazine calling the TD the Hardest MTB Race or similar. Snappy title, that's all. Wrong? Maybe, define hardest and define MTB first, then discuss, I don't think that thread got anywhere with that one, I couldn't either. Subjective stuff.

It's raced mainly on an MTB/ATB of some variant, the terrain isn't technical at all and it's not about 'mountain biking' in the current enduro-FS sense but MTBing was Pearl Pass rides, dirt roads on rigid bikes and similar stuff decades ago and is still a broad thing. Call it MTB race if you like, keep re-enforcing the point that it's not, who cares tbh (doubt MC does either). It's about way more than that. It's an endurance test and a trial of self-sufficiency and reliability on dirt roads, that's all I care about. It's like debating what a gravel bike* is .. vaguely interesting to geek out over, or very dull, depending on your level of interest in the semantics of bike genres (clearly something I can geek out over - I love the stuff that's neither one nor the other).

*If the TD isn't MTB, it's not gravel either. Race it on slimmer tyres, tight geometry and drops and see how you get on : ) Yet 200 miles of the same terrain could be a gravel race. ie, ---- knows, who cares, it is what it is and maybe that's why it's unique.

[GregMay]

Well put James, I agree, it's not a gravel race either :)

[jameso]

Didn't you use a gravel bike though?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Perhaps the divide is similar to many things and 'the bike' is simply a way to facilitate something greater?

[jameso]

^ agreed. It would be better to call it an Endurance Race not an MTB Race. Leave the equipment and genres out of it, focus on the experience. Same could be said for a few events.

[GregMay]

Didn't you use a gravel bike though?

Sort of :) Unless it's a MTB? Cause it sure does ride like one.

I like Matts way of thinking - it's an experience allowing you to know yourself better.

[Bearbonesnorm]

it's an experience allowing you to know yourself better.

Bit like life then

[Moder-dye]

Some seatpacks - and bar bags - have elastics and/or floating panels for exactly this purpose. Who would want to pack wet waterproofs inside a bag where they can't dry off and make everything else wet?

I've got an elastic cord in an 'x' on my front accessory bag for this. Having read several volumes of the Cordillera I wouldn't chance having anything on the back like this. It's full of tales of people who've lost their jacket/SPOT tracker/food/hats/gloves etc. as they were under an elastic strap on the back and they didn't notice them fall off. Or perhaps they are just unlucky. They are often the same people who seem to leave stuff behind after a stop, usually just before a massive climb so they have to go back down to get it when the realise and then back up

Yup, lost my jacket off the back half way through day 1 of a 3 day ride and after a 30min climb . It was a super windy day and a super light jacket. I now use a couple of proper bungees for anything I want to strap on rather than the seat bag strap and I'm OCD in checking its there. Luckily other than high winds the weather stayed dry. If possible I now use the front!

[jameso]

Didn't you use a gravel bike though?

Sort of :) Unless it's a MTB? Cause it sure does ride like one.

I like Matts way of thinking - it's an experience allowing you to know yourself better.

Ha, looks like one too, apart from those funny roadie bars.

I'm not sure what got me hooked on the TD idea more tbh, the route or Matt Lee's posts on BP.net. The route I guess, but Matt made racing it appeal to this unracer pretty effectively.